Did you ever wear a uniform to school?

well, it would take the fun outta scrounging something together to wear in the mornings...

twister...slow down..i can't keep up

I wore a uniform in elementary school in England. Never in the U.S. I didn't mind uniforms. I thought they looked neat.

sorry...I'm on a roll....

I had to get a boy scout shirt once (which I hated).

I believe that the uniforms in my old school (it went K -12, I attended it 5-12) helped to lessen the social and economic rivalry. It did not at all remove it, there are still many cosmetic signs of social status that were not regulated- the wealthy children, for example, almost all wore braces on their teeth at some point in middle school, and had perfect smiles (and skin and hair) in upper school. The less wealthy kids had dirty or un-ironed uniforms some days, and did not always have their hair washed or brushed. Later in high-school it was also obvious who had to work after school, and who could participate more in extra-curricular activities on campus. None the less, there was little to no pressure to "wear the right thing" in most of my schooling. "Wear your own clothes days" allowed people to make judgements and form opinions and have something to mock each other about, but there was not the day-to-day pressure. I would not say that I enjoyed wearing the uniform, but neither did I hate it, since it really did take all the decision making out of the morning.

In retrospect, the uniform also saved my family a lot of money on clothes- probably no where near what we spent on the tuition, but it had to help lighten the burden a bunch.

Through elementary school, K-8. It sure kept me in the dark about fashion, but at least I didn't feel that extra peer pressure to fit in. As to whether or not they take away the economic rivalry between kids, even with uniforms, there were people in my class that wore theirs sloppily, or had hand-me-downs (me included), so uniforms are not always uniform. I still think it's a good thing, especially in public schools, as an option of course.

There's a fine and noble thought behind requiring school uniforms. It's too bad it doesn't work.

On one hand, I don't think that uniforms allow the children to have a sense of individuality. On the other hand, the children whose parents can not afford to dress them in the latest fashions would be saved from a lot of teasing if they were required to wear uniforms. My parents didn't have a lot of money when I was young. In elementary school, I was teased quite often for not wearing Guess jeans and Reebok shoes. By the time I was in high school, my parents still could not afford to dress me in those designer clothes but I wasn't even interested in them. I had become more secure with myself, and created my own style.

Since I've been to five different schools a few of these apply...

Having a standard uniform doesn't "take away the social(economical) rivalry" - instead of wearing cheap clothes they'll be wearing cheap second hand uniform with worn patches etc. It doesn't help anything in that regard. The one thing it does do is give the school an avenue to whack on more discipline for the student to get used to, one of the schools I attended was extremely strict about uniform rules, giving them something they can constantly hound students with.

I went to a high school with no uniforms but a dress code.

I think they're a great idea - both to save money for families, and to level the field so to speak, particularly in areas with huge economic chasms separating groups of students. And I think kids can still have other clothes for after school, playclothes or fashionable clothes or what have you, so they can still express themselves that way outside school if they want.

I went to a public high school, but was enrolled in a Junior ROTC program. One requirement of the program was that we wear Air Force class "A"s once a week. Our uniformas were inspected and graded. The funny thing is, no one ever razzed me about it. And also, uniforms aside, the JROTC program had a very diverse student body. All in all, it was a very good experience for me.

I had to wear a uniform in my catholic middle school. I liked not having to worry about what to wear to school but we weren't allowed to paint our nails, or wear jewelry, or even dye our hair. The worst part though was having to wear those wool knee socks.

THEY- I disagree strongly with the sentiment that children (or adults) need to use clothing choices in order to have or even to express a sense of individuality. As a very minute example of my objection, consider your own impressions of each user of SC whom you do not know personally.

I guess I worded wrongly... what I meant to say was that wearing different styles of clothing is one way that children can and do express their individuality.

My school changed policies half a dozen times or so. We wore terrible uniforms, our own clothes and for a short period whatever you wanted as long as your lab-coat-lookalike was worn over it. The uniforms were usually the idea of busy parents (sometimes the poor ones too). No uniforms were usually the idea of busy parents (sometimes the poor ones too). The parents seemed more bothered by the idea that their kids couldn't go to school because the uniform was dirty/torn/etc than the kids were bothered by having to wear them. Parents also frequently complained about the price or the time required to get kids dressed for school when there was no uniform.

In short -- kids didn't seem to mind having to wear uniforms; peer pressure was lower (but not non-existent) when there were uniforms. We *never* found _any_ difficulties expressing ourselves just because we were in uniform and I'll second Topper (thanks for wording it better than I can) on that.

Finally, t-shirt and jeans (Gap or Calvin Kleins or whatever) *are* uniforms whether or not you think they are -- just because you chose to conform, doesn't mean you're not in uniform, period.

I suppose a yarmulke and tzitzit don't count.

They count if you were told they were the only things you were allowed to wear to school :)

Now *there's* an image.
Rather a disturbing one, actually.

For a very brief while in, um, I think it was 5th grade. Everyone hated them (polyester doubleknit zip-front dresses in rainforest climate, what was he thinking) so they were removed very quickly (a couple of weeks I think).

Yow, where's the "I am strongly against the idea of school uniforms" option? I didn't have to wear them, but there was a parochial school across the street from my junior high (in fact, they came over to take certain classes) so I saw them being worn and I thought it was awful. Having read the comments, I will now add that I never dealt with the issue of "fitting in" because I knew I never could nor did I really want to. I am sure a uniform would not have helped.

Although I did attend a number of private elementary schools, I never had to wear a uniform. I almost attended a Catholic trade high school, and would had have to wear a uniform there. Thankfully the school was too far away from where we lived.

I think uniforms are a bad idea, but that might be just because I've never been poor or embarassed by my lack of nice clothes.

I voted for school uniforms for my children school. Too many children are being hurt by wearing certain clothing. I think they can focus more on their lesson then on their clothing.

my parents wanted me to go to a all french school...the only ones around here were Catholic...so..uniforms. I didn't mind that much...only now i see the impact...I HAVE NO CLOTHES!

I wore a uniform from elementary school through high school. Long-sleeve blouse, tie, optional sweater and blazer, plaid skirt, kneesocks, and loafers. I actually liked it.

I didn't go to a school that required uniforms, though I do think they are a great idea. I did attend a Christian school my junior and senior years in high school that enforced a strict dress code. Boys were required to cut their hair short and wear slacks and dress shirts while girls were required to wear modest skirts and dresses at all times. I am in full agreement with such dress codes because, from first hand experience, I could really see how it made a huge difference in school discipline and in creating an environment where students just knew they were expected to get down to business. When you require young people to dress like young ladies and gentlemen, they will also act like young ladies and gentlemen and that's a positive thing.